ロシアのアントン・バコフ氏、キリバスをあきらめガンビアにて“ロマノフ帝国”建国を予定(2017年12月)

 (英語)Russian empire plans shift from Kiribati to the Gambia | Radio New Zealand News

 (英語:ロマノフ帝国公式サイト)Romanov Empire |

 

Signing of the Memorandum of Friendship and Cooperation between The Gambia and Romanov Empire – YouTube

背後がタス通信になってますが、タス通信で報道されているのは確認していません(ロシア語のキリル文字の’С’は’S’)。

 

 ロシアのアントン・アレクセーヴィチ・バコフ氏(Anton Alexeevich Bakov)という人は、金持ちの変人ですが、なぜか君主政主義者党という政党を立ち上げて、ロシア帝国を復活しようとし始めました。
 あと、国としての出場がアウトになったオリンピックには「ロシア帝国の旗で出ればいい」と発言しています。
※ちなみに来年(2018年)のロシア大統領選挙出馬予定です……本当に出るのかな??
追記1:
 出ませんでした。
 ロシアの君主政主義者党党首アントン・バコフ“公”“閣下”が大統領選挙から撤退した理由。「私はロシア連邦と“ロマノフ帝国”の二重国籍なので大統領になれない」。話題作りだったように思えますが完全に失敗しているのでは(2018年1月)

 しかし、ロマノフ家当主ロシア女大公マリヤ殿下らに皇帝候補になるのを(婉曲的に)断られたので、ロマノフ家の血を引くライニンゲン公子カール・エミッヒ殿下(His Serene Highness Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen)をキリスト教のルター派から東方正教会の信徒に改宗(洗礼名ニコライ・キリロヴィチ)させて皇帝候補として担いでいます(“ロシア皇帝ニコライ3世”)。
 カール・エミッヒ殿下がなぜこんなことを承知したのかはっきりしたことはわかりませんが、お金に困っていてバコフ氏の献納するお金が欲しかったのか、あるいは二度目の結婚を貴賤結婚とされライニンゲンの跡継ぎからはずされたことで人生を見失ってしまったのか、そういうことであって、ぶっちゃけロシアの皇帝になりたいなどとは思ってないだろうと考えられています。
 また、カール・エミッヒ殿下を候補として推すことの是非ですが、貴賤結婚による厳しい制限があったロシア帝室のルールと、その観点からの継承順位を考えるとまったくありえないことではない(ライニンゲン家を推す人もいる)のですが、本人の二度目・三度目の結婚が貴賤結婚だという問題があります(しかしそうだとしても最初の結婚からの長女であるライニンゲン公女ツェツィーリエ殿下(Her Serene Highness Princess Cäcilie of Leiningen)に権利があると考えることもできないことはないですけど)。
追記2:
 なお、カール・エミッヒ殿下の子供たちにロシアの称号が併記されたのはまだ見たことがありません。
 次の皇帝はどうするのか……。

 ともあれ、バコフ氏は、“ニコライ3世”より敬称と称号をいただき、アントン・バコフ公閣下(His Serene Highness Prince Anton Bakov)および大法官(Archchancellor)となっています。もちろん、まじめに受け取る必要はないのですが、いい続ければ夢はかなうかもしれないので、いい続けるでしょう。

 さて、いっぽう、アイデアマンのバコフ氏は、「どこかの国に土地を確保して、(金の力で)そこの国に独立した帝国として認めてもらう」という計画を立てます。
 この計画、いろいろあってまずは南太平洋のキリバス共和国に狙いが定められるのですが、専門家による「アホか」という趣旨のコメントもあり挫折。
 そして、ガンビア共和国を次に狙っているらしいです。
 ガンビアといえば、アフリカの誇る変人大統領の一人がフェードアウトした国家ですが、やはりほかにも変人がいるようです、としかいえません。とはいえ、最終的に通るとは思っていませんけど。

 なお、このミクロネーション、今の名称は「ロマノフ帝国(Romanov Empire)」となっており、バコフ氏……じゃなくてバコフ公閣下は首相(Prime Minister)のようです。
 人工島を建造して旅行地として開発し、定住者(定住従業員)を確保して、ガンビアから独立を承認されれば、ミクロネーションからミニ国家への昇格も妄想から夢くらいには評価が上がるかもしれませんが、はたして……。

 

旧ルーマニア王ミハイ1世陛下の葬儀はじまる(2017年12月)

 12月5日に崩御した旧ルーマニア王ミハイ1世陛下(His Majesty King Michael IMihai I】 of Romania)の葬儀が始まったようです。
 長女のルーマニア王位守護者マルガレータ陛下(Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Crown of Romania : ルーマニア皇太子マルガレータ殿下 : Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Margareta of Romania)らルーマニア王室関係者および外国の王室メンバーが臨席。
 ルーマニア大統領クラウス・ヴェルナー・ヨハニス閣下(His Excellency Mr Klaus Werner Iohannis)ら政治家らが参列。
 キリスト教/東方正教会/ルーマニア正教会の聖職者らが礼拝を執り行います。

 

関連:
 旧ルーマニア王ミハイ1世陛下の葬儀に参列予定の王室関係者(2017年12月)

 

各王室サイト記事など:
 (スペイン語:スペイン王室公式サイト)Casa de Su Majestad el Rey de España – Actividades y Agenda – Funeral de Su Majestad el Rey Miguel I de Rumanía
 (フランス語:ルクセンブルク大公室公式サイト)Funérailles de Sa Majesté le Roi Michael Ier de Roumanie – Cour Grand-Ducale de Luxembourg – Décembre 2017

 (英語:アルバニア王室公式サイト)Albanian Royal Family – Funeral of HM King Micheal
 (ブルガリア語:ブルガリア王室公式サイト:旧ブルガリア王シメオン2世陛下は世界観光機関の特別大使としてスイス/ジュネーブへの訪問が決まっていたため、葬儀は欠席のようです)Цар Симеон II присъства на поклонението пред тленните останки на Крал Михай I в Букурещ « Н.В. Цар Симеон II
 (英語:旧ユーゴスラビア王室【セルビア王室】公式サイト)THE ROYAL COUPLE AT THE FUNERAL OF KING MICHAEL OF ROMANIA | The Royal Family of Serbia

 

ルーマニア国内報道など:
 (写真)FUNERALII – REGELE MIHAI I AL ROMANIEI | AGERPRES • Actualizează lumea.

 

海外報道記事など:
 (英語)Prince Charles pays his respects to Romania's late king | Daily Mail Online
 (英語)Prince Charles joins royals for funeral of Romania’s king Michael | Royal | News | Express.co.uk
 (英語)Romanian former monarch King Michael given state funeral in Bucharest | News | DW | 16.12.2017
 (英語)Funeral Held for King Michael of Romania | Time
 (フランス語)Roumanie : les monarchies européennes aux obsèques de l'ex-roi Michel – L'Express

 

 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア・テレビ)TVR+ live

TVR:
Funeraliile Regelui Mihai I – ediţie specială TVR1 – YouTube

TVR:
Funeraliile Regelui Mihai I – Curtea de Argeș (@TVR1) – YouTube

 

 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア正教会通信)Ceremonialul funeraliilor Regelui Mihai I al României (LIVE) – Basilica.ro
 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア正教会通信)LIVE | Părintele Patriarh Daniel oficiază slujba de înmormântare a Regelui Mihai I al României – Basilica.ro
 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア正教会通信)Regele Mihai – un simbol al suferinței şi speranței poporului român – Basilica.ro
 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア正教会通信)Curtea de Argeș | Înmormântarea Regelui Mihai în noua Necropolă Regală de la Catedrala Arhiepiscopală din Curtea de Argeş (VIDEO) – Basilica.ro
 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア正教会通信:写真)Slujba de înmormântare a Regelui Mihai I al României – Basilica.ro
 (英語:ルーマニア正教会通信)King Michael – a symbol of the suffering and hope of the Romanian people – Basilica.ro
 (英語:ルーマニア正教会通信)VIDEO: Patriarch Daniel officiates King Michael’s funeral – Basilica.ro
 (英語:ルーマニア正教会通信)Romanians pay their respects during King Michael’s funeral (VIDEO) – Basilica.ro
 (英語:ルーマニア正教会通信:写真)King Michael I's funeral service – Basilica.ro

 

動画などよりキャプチャ/

長女のルーマニア王位守護者マルガレータ陛下(Her Majesty Margareta, the Custodian of the Crown of Romania)と夫のルーマニア王子ラドゥ殿下(His Royal Highness Prince Radu of Romania):

 

三女の“イリーナ王女殿下”、四女のソフィア王女殿下、五女のマリア王女殿下:

 

一列目 向かって左から
 スウェーデン王カール16世グスタフ陛下(Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden : His Majesty The King)、
 スウェーデン王妃シルヴィア陛下(シルビア王妃 : Queen Silvia of Sweden : Her Majesty The Queen)、
 前スペイン王ファン・カルロス1世陛下(His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain)、
二列目 向かって左から
 ルクセンブルク大公アンリ殿下(Henri : His Royal Highness The Grand Duke of Luxembourg)、
 ウェールズ公チャールズ皇太子殿下(Prince Charles : His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales)、
三列目 向かって左から
 ベルギー王女アストリッド殿下(オーストリア=エステ大公妃 : オーストリア皇子妃 : ハンガリー王子妃 : ベーメン王子妃 : モデナ公妃 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duchess of Modena)、
 オーストリア=エステ大公/ベルギー王子ローレンツ殿下(ロレンツ大公 : オーストリア皇子 : ハンガリー王子 : ベーメン王子 : モデナ公 : His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Modena)、
 (旧)ユーゴスラビア王室(カラジョルジェヴィッチ家)当主で現在セルビア王室を称するユーゴスラヴィア皇太子アレクサンダル2世殿下(His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia / Serbia)、

 

(旧)アルバニア王室(ゾグー家)当主のアルバニア皇太子レカ2世殿下(His Royal Highness Crown Prince Leka II of the Albanians)と(旧)ポルトガル王室(ブラガンサ家)当主のブラガンサ公爵ドゥアルテ・ピオ殿下(His Royal Highness Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza):

 

左から
 オーストリア=エステ大公/ベルギー王子ローレンツ殿下(ロレンツ大公 : オーストリア皇子 : ハンガリー王子 : ベーメン王子 : モデナ公 : His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Modena)、
 ルクセンブルク大公アンリ殿下(Henri : His Royal Highness The Grand Duke of Luxembourg)、
 (旧)ユーゴスラビア王室(カラジョルジェヴィッチ家)当主で現在セルビア王室を称するユーゴスラヴィア皇太子アレクサンダル2世殿下(His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia / Serbia)、
 ウェールズ公チャールズ皇太子殿下(Prince Charles : His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales)、

 

ハプスブルク=ロートリンゲン家当主/オーストリア大公カール殿下(His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Karl of Austria, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia):

 

 ベルギー王女アストリッド殿下(オーストリア=エステ大公妃 : オーストリア皇子妃 : ハンガリー王子妃 : ベーメン王子妃 : モデナ公妃 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duchess of Modena)、
 オーストリア=エステ大公/ベルギー王子ローレンツ殿下(ロレンツ大公 : オーストリア皇子 : ハンガリー王子 : ベーメン王子 : モデナ公 : His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Modena)、
 後方はハプスブルク=ロートリンゲン家当主/オーストリア大公カール殿下(His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Karl of Austria, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia):

 

(旧)イタリア王室(サヴォイア家)のヴェネツィア公/ピエモンテ公/サヴォイア公子エマヌエーレ・フィリベルト殿下(His Royal Highness Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice and Piedmont):

 

故ルーマニア王女イレアナの娘でルーマニア王室関連の行事に参列の多いオーストリア大公女マリア・マグダレーナ殿下(“マギー”【Magi】 : オーストリア皇女 : ハンガリー王女 : ベーメン王女 : トスカナ大公女 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Maria Magdalena of Austria, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany):

 

(旧)ロシア帝室ロマノフ家当主ロシア女大公マリヤ殿下:

 

マルガレータ陛下たちルーマニア王室構成員が、各王室に挨拶:

 

アレクサンダー・ニクソン閣下(ミハイ陛下の次女エレーナ王女殿下の夫):

 

キリスト教/東方正教会/ルーマニア正教会の首座/ルーマニア正教会総主教、ブカレスト大主教、ムンテニア・ドブロジャ府主教ダニエル聖下(His Beatitude Daniel, Archbishop of Bucharest, Metropolitan of Muntenia and Dobrudgea and Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church):

 

ルーマニア大統領クラウス・ヴェルナー・ヨハニス閣下(His Excellency Mr Klaus Werner Iohannis)たち:

 

以下、抜粋映像など/

ルーマニア大統領クラウス・ヴェルナー・ヨハニス閣下が王宮に到着:
Președintele Klaus Iohannis a sosit la Palatul Regal – YouTube

 

棺の角の四方に、長女のマルガレータ陛下、スウェーデン王カール16世陛下、前スペイン王ファン・カルロス1世陛下、ルクセンブルク大公アンリ殿下が立つ:
Ziua grea a desparțirii – YouTube

 

Familia Regală, în lacrimi la catafalc – YouTube

 

România in doliu, ziua despărtirii – YouTube

 

Funeraliile Regelui Mihai I al României – YouTube

 

Regele românilor a plecat la Împăratul cerurilor – YouTube

 

Cuvântul Preafericitului Părinte Patriarh Daniel la funeraliile Regelui Mihai I al României – YouTube

 

Regele Mihai I a fost înmormântat la Curtea de Argeș – YouTube

 

Regele, condus pe ultimul drum ca un mareșal – YouTube

 

Însoțit de români pe ultimul drum – YouTube

 

Un Rege respectat în toată lumea – YouTube

 

Ultima călătorie cu Trenul Regal – YouTube

 

Sute de oameni au așteptat trenul regal la Pitești – YouTube

 

Un drum în lacrimi și doliu – YouTube

 

Înmormântarea Regelui Mihai I al României la Curtea de Argeș – YouTube

 

Membrii Familiei Regale au părăsit necropola de la Curtea de Argeș – YouTube

 

Cuvântul Preafericitului Părinte Patriarh Daniel la funeraliile Regelui Mihai I al României – YouTube

 

以下、gettyimages より埋め込んだ画像(Romania King's Funeralの写真およびイメージ | ゲッティイメージズ):

チャールズ皇太子殿下。後方のサングラスの方はおそらく(旧)ポルトガル王室当主ブラガンサ公爵ドゥアルテ・ピオ殿下:
Embed from Getty Images

マルガレータ陛下とラドゥ王子殿下:
Embed from Getty Images

棺に一番近い位置の男性がルーマニア大統領ヨハニス閣下:
Embed from Getty Images

前列左から、ヨルダン王母ムナ・アル=フセイン殿下、たぶんフランス王女(オルレアン公女)シャンタル殿下、チャールズ皇太子殿下、前スペイン王妃ソフィア陛下、前スペイン王ファン・カルロス1世陛下/
シャンタル殿下の後方が(旧)アルバニア王室当主アルバニア皇太子レカ2世殿下/
チャールズ殿下とソフィア陛下の間の後方が、ハプスブルク=ロートリンゲン家当主オーストリア大公カール殿下/
ファン・カルロス1世陛下の後方が(旧)ポルトガル王室当主ブラガンサ公爵ドゥアルテ・ピオ殿下:
Embed from Getty Images
Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

 

Casa de S.M. el Reyさんのツイート: "Los Reyes Don Juan Carlos y Doña Sofía asisten en Bucarest a las exequias por el Rey Miguel I de Rumanía. https://t.co/AZKBOTKM3M https://t.co/dPvyMyzunp"

 

Casa de S.M. el Reyさんのツイート: "Funeral de Su Majestad el Rey Miguel I de Rumanía https://t.co/AZKBOTKM3M https://t.co/tafe0QYJDz"

 

ルーマニア大統領府公式サイトのトップページに掲載された、ルーマニア大統領クラウス・ヴェルナー・ヨハニス閣下による葬儀参列を伝えるコメント:

Președintele României
Klaus Iohannis
Cu profund regret, am condus astăzi pe ultimul drum un veritabil om de stat, Regele Mihai I, care, cu demnitate și curaj, și-a reprezentat țara în unele dintre cele mai grele vremuri ale istoriei noastre. Am fost impresionat de mulțimea de oameni care s-a alăturat cortegiului funerar, o autentică expresie a iubirii și respectului românilor față de Regele Mihai I. Sunt convins că va rămâne în memoria națională drept un reper de integritate, un simbol al solidarității și al aspirației către libertate.

適当な訳:
ルーマニア大統領クラウス・ヨハニス
「深い悲しみとともに、私は今日、真に国のためにつくした指導者、威厳と勇気を兼ね備え、われわれの歴史の中でもっとも厳しい時代のひとつの時期に国を代表したミハイ1世王の最後の道程を見送った。私は、ミハイ1世王へのルーマニア人の愛と尊敬を真に表明した大勢の人々が葬列に加わってくれたことに感動した。私は、ミハイ1世が、国家統一のみちしるべ、連帯と自由への熱望の象徴として、国の記憶に残り続けることを確信している」

 

 アラウカニア・パタゴニア公スタニスラス・パルビュレスコ殿下(キディコ子爵 : His Royal Highness Stanislas Parvulesco, Prince of Araucania and Patagonia, Viscount of Quidico)が参列と称した模様。

※いわゆる自称君主(の対立君主)に分類されるのに近い人ですが(しかしギリギリ正統性があると言えなくもないというか……)、ご自身でブログに参列したと書いていたのでリンクしておきます。
 (フランス語:アラウカニア・パタゴニア王国【スタニスラス1世派】公式ブログ)La Maison Royale d'Araucanie présente aux obsèques du Roi Michel de Roumanie – Royaume d'Araucanie et de Patagonie.
 同殿下が、父であるヴィラリカ公爵・キディコ伯爵コンスタンティン・パルビュレスコ閣下(His Excellency Constantine Parvulesco, Duke of Villarica and Count of Quidico)のぶんもあわせてルーマニア王室へ弔意を表明したとのことです(表明しただけかもしれません)。
※関係者の多数は、スタニスラス1世と対立しているアントワーヌ4世殿下を支持しているとされています。

追記:
 スタニスラス1世はフランス王ジャン2世の子孫を称しており、系譜の情報も出回っています。もちろん重要な系統というわけではありませんが、子孫である可能性は高いのではないかと思います。

 

旧ルーマニア王ミハイ1世陛下の葬儀に参列予定の王室関係者(2017年12月)

 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア正教会通信)Case regale care au confirmat prezenţa la funeraliile Regelui Mihai – Basilica.ro
 (ルーマニア語:ルーマニア王室公式ニュース配信サイト)Familiile Regale participante la funeraliile Regelui Mihai I | Familia Regală a României / Royal Family of Romania

 

 上のリンク先によりますと、以下のようになります(順番は勝手に整理)。

 

英国王室(ウィンザー家):
 ウェールズ公チャールズ皇太子殿下(Prince Charles : His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales)、

スウェーデン王室(ベルナドッテ家):
 スウェーデン王カール16世グスタフ陛下(Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden : His Majesty The King)、
 スウェーデン王妃シルヴィア陛下(シルビア王妃 : Queen Silvia of Sweden : Her Majesty The Queen)、

スペイン王室(ブルボン家):
 前スペイン王ファン・カルロス1世陛下(His Majesty King Juan Carlos I of Spain)、
 前スペイン王妃ソフィア陛下(Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain)、

バーレーン王室(ハリーファ家):
 “シャイフ【シェイク】”・ラーシド・ビン・ハリーファ・アル・ハリーファ閣下(His Excellency Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa al Khalifa)、

ベルギー王室(ベルギー家【ザクセン=コーブルク=ゴータ家】):
 ベルギー王女アストリッド殿下(オーストリア=エステ大公妃 : オーストリア皇子妃 : ハンガリー王子妃 : ベーメン王子妃 : モデナ公妃 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Princess Astrid of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duchess of Modena)、
 オーストリア=エステ大公/ベルギー王子ローレンツ殿下(ロレンツ大公 : オーストリア皇子 : ハンガリー王子 : ベーメン王子 : モデナ公 : His Imperial and Royal Highness Prince Lorenz of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Modena)、

ヨルダン王室(ハーシム家):
 前国王夫人ムナー・アル=フセイン妃殿下(Her Royal Highness Princess Muna al-Hussein)、
 アリー王子夫人リム・アル=アリー妃殿下(Her Royal Highness Princess Rym al-Ali)、

リヒテンシュタイン公室(リヒテンシュタイン家):
 (?)イザベレ殿下(Her Serene Highness Princess Isabelle of Liechtenstein)、

ルクセンブルク大公室(ナッサウ家):
 ルクセンブルク大公アンリ殿下(Henri : His Royal Highness The Grand Duke of Luxembourg)、

 

(旧)アルバニア王室(ゾグー家):
 アルバニア皇太子レカ2世殿下(His Royal Highness Crown Prince Leka II of the Albanians)、
 アルバニア皇太子妃エリア殿下(His Royal Highness Crown Princess Elia of the Albanians)、

(旧)イタリア王室(サヴォイア家):
 ヴェネツィア公/ピエモンテ公/サヴォイア公子エマヌエーレ・フィリベルト殿下(His Royal Highness Prince Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, Prince of Venice and Piedmont)、

(旧)ヴュルテンベルク王室(ヴュルテンベルク家):
 ヴュルテンベルク公子エーバーハルト殿下(His Royal Highness Duke Eberhard of Württemberg)

(旧)オーストリア帝室・ハンガリー王室(ハプスブルク=ロートリンゲン家):
 ハプスブルク=ロートリンゲン家当主/オーストリア大公カール殿下(His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Karl of Austria, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia)、
 オーストリア大公ゲオルク殿下(His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Georg of Austria, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia)、
 オーストリア=エステ大公マルティン殿下(オーストリア皇子 : ハンガリー王子 : ベーメン王子 : モデナ公子 : His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Martin of Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duke of Modena)、
 オーストリア=エステ大公妃カタリナ殿下(イーゼンブルク公女 : オーストリア皇子妃 : ハンガリー王子妃 : ベーメン王子妃 : モデナ公子妃 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Katharina of Austria-Este, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Duchess of Modena, Princess of Isenburg)、
(旧)トスカナ大公室系:
 故ルーマニア王女イレアナの娘でルーマニア王室関連の行事に参列の多いオーストリア大公女マリア・マグダレーナ殿下(“マギー”【Magi】 : オーストリア皇女 : ハンガリー王女 : ベーメン王女 : トスカナ大公女 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Maria Magdalena of Austria, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany)、
 オーストリア大公ドミニク殿下(His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke DominicNiki” of Austria, Prince Imperial of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Prince of Tuscany)、
 オーストリア大公妃エマヌエッラ殿下(Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess EmmanuellaNella” of Austria, Princess Imperial of Austria, Princess Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany)、

(旧)ギリシャ王室(グリュックスブルク家【グリクシンブルグ家】):
 旧ギリシャ王妃アンナ=マリア陛下(Her Majesty Queen Anne-Marie of Greece : デンマーク王室出身)、
 ギリシャ・デンマーク王女イリニ殿下(Her Royal Highness Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark)、
 ギリシャ・デンマーク王子ニコラオス殿下(His Royal Highness Prince Nikolaos of Greece)、

(旧)ドイツ帝室/プロイセン王室(ホーエンツォレルン家):
 プロイセン公ゲオルク・フリードリヒ殿下(His Imperial and Royal Highness Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia)、

(旧)バーデン大公室(バーデン家、ツェーリンゲン家):
 バーデン辺境伯マクシミリアン殿下(His Royal Highness Maximilian, Margrave of Baden)、
 バーデン辺境伯妃ヴァレリー殿下(トスカナ系ハプスブルク家出身 : Her Imperial and Royal Highness Archduchess Valerie, Margravine of Baden)、

(旧)フランス王室(ブルボン家【ブルボン=オルレアン家】):
 ヴァンドーム公爵/フランス王子ジャン殿下(オルレアン公子 : His Royal Highness Prince Jean of France, Prince of Orléans, Duke of Vendôme)、
 フランス王女シャンタル殿下(オルレアン公女 : Her Royal Highness Princess Chantal of France, Princess of Orléans)、

(旧)ブルガリア王室(ザクセン=コーブルク=ゴータ家):
 旧ブルガリア王シメオン2世陛下(His Majesty King Simeon II of the Bulgarians : 元ブルガリア共和国首相シメオン・サクスコブルクゴツキ : Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha)、

(旧)ポルトガル王室(ブラガンサ家):
 ブラガンサ公爵ドゥアルテ・ピオ殿下(His Royal Highness Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza)、

(旧)ユーゴスラビア王室(カラジョルジェヴィッチ家):
 現在セルビア王室を称する、
 ユーゴスラヴィア皇太子アレクサンダル2世殿下(His Royal Highness Crown Prince Alexander II of Yugoslavia / Serbia)、
 ユーゴスラヴィア皇太子妃カタリナ殿下(英語ではキャサリン皇太子妃 : Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia / Serbia)、

(旧)ロシア帝室(ロマノフ家):
 ロシア女大公マリヤ・ウラジーミロヴナ殿下(Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna of Russia)

 

君主家ではありませんが、
リーニュ家(ベルギー貴族):
 リーニュ公女アン閣下(Her Highness Princess Anne of Ligne)、

ラジヴィウ家:
 タティアナ・ラジヴィウ公女(Princess Tatiana Radziwiłł)、

 

 ほか、バーレーン王室と日本の皇室から誰か来るかもみたいなことが書いてあります。
 バーレーンのハリーファ家はいくらでも人がいますが、皇室は人数不足なので、大使か誰か代理で参列するのか、それとも急遽日程を組むのかはよくわかりません(日本はこういうところであまり気を使わない気もします)。

追記:
 バーレーン王室からはおひとりリストに名前が出ましたが、皇室からは参列はなさそうです。

 

続報:
 旧ルーマニア王ミハイ1世陛下の葬儀はじまる(2017年12月)

 

訃報(2007年3月13日):ロシア公女エカテリーナ・イヴァノヴナ殿下、薨去(1915~2007)

 2007年3月13日、ロシア公女エカテリーナ・イヴァノヴナ殿下(Her Highness Princess Catherine Ivanovna of Russia)が、ウルグアイ東方共和国の首都モンテビデオで薨去された模様です。
 1915年6月25日(12日)生まれの91歳。

 ロシア帝国滅亡前に最後に生まれたロシア帝室の一員。

 

Line of succession to the former Russian throne

note:
As of July 2020.

See also:
Line of succession to the former Monarchical throne and others : From (deleted) Wikipedia’s articles.


The Monarchy of Russia was abolished in 1917 following the February Revolution, which forced Emperor Nicholas II (1868–1918) to abdicate. Claims made on behalf of different persons to be the rightful current pretender continue to be debated.

Since 1992, the most widely acknowledged pretender is Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia,[1][2] a great-great-granddaughter in the male-line of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, having proclaimed herself the head of the imperial house upon her father’s death.[1][3] She also declared her son George Mikhailovich (born 1981) to be the heir-apparent.[1]

Potential successors in March 1917

In the succession chart below, the number preceding each name indicates that individual’s position in the order of succession to the throne at the time of the abdication of Nicholas II. For instance, Alexei Nikolaevich was the first in line, as the Emperor’s only son. The numbers following each name indicates the line of descent and genealogical seniority from Nicholas I of Russia. For instance, Alexei Nikolaevich, 1.2.1.1, as follows from Nicholas I.[4]

Many of the individuals on this list died without legitimate issue; some were killed during the Russian Revolution.

  • Emperor Nicholas I (1796–1855)
    • Emperor Alexander II (1818–1881) (1)
      • Emperor Alexander III (1845–1894) (1.2)
        • Emperor Nicholas II (born 1868) (1.2.1) (killed on 17 July 1918)
          • (1) Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich (b. 1904) (1.2.1.1) (killed on 17 July 1918)
        • (2) Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich (b. 1878) (1.2.4) (killed on 12 June 1918)
          • George Mikhailovich, Count Brasov (b. 1910)
      • Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (1847–1909) (1.3)
        • (3) Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich (b. 1876) (1.3.2)
        • (4) Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich (b. 1877) (1.3.3)
        • (5) Grand Duke Andrew Vladimirovich (b. 1879) (1.3.4)
          • Prince Vladimir Romanovsky-Krasinsky (b. 1902)
      • (6) Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (b. 1860) (1.6) (killed on 28 January 1919)
        • (7) Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (b. 1891) (1.6.1)
    • Grand Duke Constantine Nikolaevich (1827–1892) (2)
      • (8) Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovich (b. 1850) (2.1) (officially declared insane and exiled in 1874 after theft accusation)
      • Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich of Russia (1858–1915) (2.2)
        • (9) Prince John Konstantinovich (b. 1886) (2.2.1) (killed on 18 July 1918)
          • (10) Prince Vsevolod Ivanovich (b. 1914) (2.2.1.1)
        • (11) Prince Gabriel Konstantinovich (b. 1887) (2.2.2)
        • (12) Prince Constantine Konstantinovich (b. 1891) (2.2.3) (killed on 18 July 1918)
        • (13) Prince Igor Konstantinovich (b. 1894) (2.2.5) (killed on 18 July 1918)
        • (14) Prince George Konstantinovich (b. 1903) (2.2.6)
      • (15) Grand Duke Dmitri Konstantinovich (b. 1860) (2.3) (killed on 28 January 1919)
    • Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (1831–1891) (3)
      • (16) Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (b. 1856) (3.1)
      • (17) Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich (b. 1864) (3.2)
        • (18) Prince Roman Petrovich (b. 1896) (3.2.1)
    • Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich (1832–1909) (4)
      • (19) Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich (b. 1859) (4.1) (killed on 28 January 1919)
      • (20) Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich (b. 1861) (4.2) (morganatic marriage on 26 February 1891)
      • (21) Grand Duke George Mikhailovich (b. 1863) (4.3) (killed on 28 January 1919)
      • (22) Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich (b. 1866) (4.4)
        • (23) Prince Andrew Alexandrovich (b. 1897) (4.4.1)
        • (24) Prince Feodor Alexandrovich (b. 1898) (4.4.2)
        • (25) Prince Nikita Alexandrovich (b. 1900) (4.4.3)
        • (26) Prince Dmitri Alexandrovich (b. 1901) (4.4.4)
        • (27) Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich (b. 1902) (4.4.5)
        • (28) Prince Vasili Alexandrovich (b. 1907) (4.4.6)
      • (29) Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich (b. 1869) (4.5) (killed on 18 July 1918)

Claims since 1917

Michael Alexandrovich (1917–1918)

Brother of Nicholas II, who abdicated in 1917.

Nicholas Nikolaevich (1922–1929)

Grandson of Nicholas I. Proclaimed Tsar of Russia by the Provisional Priamurye Government, which controlled portions of the Russian Far East. His rule was nominal as he was in exile during the entirety of his reign. He was without issue on his death in 1929 at the age of 72.

Kirillovichi branch (1924–present)

Kirill Vladimirovich (1924–1938)

Main article: Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia

At first, many members of the Imperial House either did not believe or were wary of acting on news of the demise of the immediate imperial family. However, camps started to be formed in the monarchist movement, where Paris was a focal location. Several monarchists grouped around Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich, who was first in the line of succession by male primogeniture after the execution of Alexei Nikolaevich and Michael Alexandrovich. Many of Kirill’s opponents grouped around a young grand duke, Dmitri Pavlovich, who was next in the line of succession if Kirill and his brothers, the Vladimirovichi, were ineligible (Paul Alexandrovich, who had been ahead of Dmitri, had been killed in 1919), though Dimitri himself refused these advances, supporting instead Grand Duke Kirill as emperor.[5] Several grouped around the old Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich, appreciating his career as general and former commander-in-chief, or his position as the oldest member of the imperial dynasty. On August 8, 1922, Nicholas was proclaimed as the emperor of all Russia by the Zemsky Sobor of the Priamursk region, convened in Vladivostok by General Mikhail Diterikhs. At the time, Grand Duke Nicholas was already living abroad and consequently was not present at the Sobor. Two months later, the Priamursk region fell to the Bolsheviks.

Nicholas and Dmitri never publicly proclaimed themselves pretenders, but Kirill Vladimirovich assumed on 8 August 1922 the position of curator of the throne. On 31 August 1924 he proclaimed himself Kirill I, Emperor of all the Russias. With the assumption of the Imperial title his children were elevated to the title and styles of Grand Duke and Grand Duchesses of Russia according to the Statutes of the Imperial Family and the Laws of the Russian Empire.[6] Grand Duke Kirill’s role as head of the House was recognised, and the oath of loyalty signed by every male dynast of the House of Romanov, except Grand Duke Nicholas, his brother Grand Duke Peter, and the latter’s son, Prince Roman Petrovich.[7] Nicholas, one of the other monarchist alternatives, died in 1929. Kirill held his court-in-exile in France, erecting a secretariat for the monarchist movement.

Vladimir Kirillovich (1938–1992)

Main article: Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia

Kirill died in 1938, and was succeeded as pretender by his only son Vladimir Kirillovich, who chose to assume the title of Grand Duke rather than that of Emperor.[8]

The Kirillovichi supporters claim that Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich was the sole male dynast of the Imperial House to enter into an equal marriage after 1917. Opponents refute the equality of this marriage. In 1946, responding to a question from the Spanish Royal House on whether the House of Bagration-Moukhrani could now, after the dissolution of the Russian Empire, be considered of royal (i.e. equal) rank, the Grand Duke issued a statement confirming the formerly sovereign status and royal titulature of the senior branch (i.e., Moukhransky) of the Royal House of Georgia.[9] On August 13, 1948, he married Princess Leonida Bagration-Moukransky. The Grand Duke’s marriage to Princess Leonida is controversial; some consider it to be morganatic (although the princess belonged to a dynasty that had ruled as kings in Armenia and Georgia since the early Middle Ages until 1810, the family had been reduced to the status of Russian nobility for over a century prior to the Russian Revolution — Leonida’s branch had not been regnant in the male line as kings of Georgia since 1505).[10] The Romanov Family Association, whose bylaws prohibit support of anyone for Russia’s defunct throne, recognised neither Vladimir Kirillovich nor his daughter Maria Vladimirovna as rightful claimants.

However, having recognised the Moukhransky branch of the House of Bagration as a former royal dynasty in 1946 in his claimed capacity as head of the (likewise deposed) House of Romanov, he declared his 1948 marriage to Princess Leonida to be dynastic, notwithstanding her family’s status as Russian subjects at the end of the monarchy. From the time of their marriage in 1948 she assumed her husband’s rank, bearing the title Grand Duchess of Russia and the style Her Imperial Highness.

In 1969 Vladimir, expressing his opinion that the House of Romanov faced almost inevitable extinction in the dynastic male line, proclaimed his daughter Maria Vladimirovna the future curatrix of the throne, implying that she would ultimately succeed. That act angered other dynasts and groups in monarchist circles. Three Romanov dynasts, Princes Vsevold, Andrei and Roman wrote to Vladimir, addressing him as “Prince” rather than “Grand Duke”, asserting that Maria Vladimirovna’s mother was of no higher status than the wife of any other dynastic Romanov prince. They also said that they did not recognise Maria Vladimirovna as a grand duchess and that his proclamation declaring her the dynasty’s future curatrix was illegal.[11]

In 1989, when Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia (who was also the President of the Romanov Family Association, see discussion of succession controversy below), died, Vladimir immediately proclaimed his daughter as the dynasty’s heiress, as Prince Vasili was the last male Romanov other than himself whom, having been born of an equal marriage, Vladimir recognised as a dynast.

Maria Vladimirovna (1992–present)

Main article: Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia

When Vladimir Kirillovich died in 1992, Maria Vladimirovna proclaimed herself the new Head of the Imperial House,[3] assuming the position of Head of the House and proclaiming her son George Mikhailovich the heir-apparent. Her son, who was born in 1981, was given the patronymic “Mikhailovich” because from 1976 until her divorce in 1985, Maria was married to Prince Franz Wilhelm of Prussia, who was granted the title “His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia” by Vladimir. Maria styles herself “Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna of Russia” as her title of pretension, and her son styles himself “His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Georgi Mikhailovich of Russia” as his title of pretension.

Nikolaevichi branch (1992-2016)

Nicholas Romanov (1992–2014)

Main article: Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia

In 1979, seven undisputed male and female dynasts founded the Romanov Family Association (RFA), which by the end of the same year had admitted more than half of the surviving undisputed dynasts into its membership, as well as a fair number of those male-line descendants Vladimir did not recognise as dynasts because of morganatic birth. Vladimir Kirillovich never joined the association and neither has his daughter Maria.

The RFA, which included the last two surviving females recognised as dynasts among its membership, chose Prince Nicholas Romanov, as its president in 1989, following the death of Prince Vasili Alexandrovich of Russia, the only undisputed male dynast still living at that time other than Vladimir Kirillovich. The RFA’s official position, expressed in its founding charter, is that the Russian nation should determine which sort of government its people desire and, if the choice is monarchy, who should be monarch. Nonetheless, once Vladimir was no longer alive, Prince Nicholas Romanov was recognised as the head of the Imperial House of Romanov while serving as third president of the RFA by the members of the family, with the exception of Maria Vladimirovna and her son George Mikhailovich.[12] Following the death of Vladimir Kirillovich in April 1992, Nicholas took “H.H. Prince of Russia” as his title of pretension.[13][14]

Dimitri Romanov (2014–2016)

After Nicholas’ death in 2014, his brother Prince Dimitri Romanov took up the claim. Dimitri had affirmed in July 2009 that his brother Nicholas, and not Maria Vladimirovna, was the Head of the Imperial Family, simultaneously declaring, however, that pursuant to a 1992 family meeting he attended in Paris, all of the then living senior male descendants of the House of Romanov agreed not to put forward any claim.[15] Prince Dimitri died childless in 2016, extinguishing the asserted claims of the Romanovs of the Nikolayevich branch with the death of the last male of that line.

Mikhailovichi branch (2016-present)

Andrew Romanov (2016–present)

This claim then passed on to the line of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, in the person of Andrew Andreevich, Prince of Russia.

House of Leiningen

Nikolai Kirillovich (2013–present)

See also: Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen and Romanov Empire (micronation)

Prince Karl Emich of Leiningen (born 1952), converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith in 2013,[16] in order to pretend the Russian throne under the name of Prince Nikolai Kirillovich of Leiningen-Romanov. He is the grandson of Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (sister of Vladimir, and aunt of Maria Vladimirovna) and great-grandson of Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia. The Monarchist Party of Russia supports Prince Nikolai as the heir of the Russian throne, since they are of the opinion that neither Maria Vladimirovna Romanova nor Nicholas Romanov qualified as dynasts.[16] In early 2014, Nikolai Kirilovich declared himself Emperor Nicholas III and sovereign the “Romanov Empire” (also known as “Imperial Throne”), a micronation founded in 2011 by monarchist businessman and politician Anton Bakov.[17]

Karl Emich was disinherited and gave up use of the Leiningen Fürstliche title because of his parents’ disapproval of his second (and morganatic) marriage to a commoner.[18] His younger brother Andreas became the Prince of Leiningen.[18] In 2007, Nicholas married Countess Isabelle von und zu Egloffstein, who gave birth to their only son, Emich, in 2010.

Succession controversy

In applying Romanov House Law to determine headship of the dynasty, it must be determined if there are surviving male dynasts of the House of Romanov and then which among them is entitled to claim the Romanov legacy pursuant to house law. If only one male Romanov dynast survives, his claim precedes that of any female Romanov dynast or any male lawfully descended in the female line from a male Romanov dynast. If no Romanov male dynast survives, semi-salic succession is invoked, and the title passes to the last surviving male dynast’s closest female relative. In that case, one must assess who the last surviving male dynast was: Some consider this to have been Vladimir Kirillovich, while others upheld that status for Paul Romanovsky-Ilyinsky of Palm Beach and, subsequently, for their cousins Nicholas Romanovich and Dimitri Romanovich of the Nikolayevich branch. Still others have supported the claims of other surviving male relatives in the male lines of Grand Dukes Dimitri Pavlovich or Alexander Nikolayevich. Females of male-line Romanov descent who have been deemed by some to have succeeded the last male include Maria Vladimirovna and Catherine Ioanovna (of the Konstantinovich branch of the family). Semi-salic succession as applied under the house law might also allocate the claim to the defunct Russian throne to a male who descends through dynastically valid marriages from any daughter of Alexander III, Alexander II or Nicholas I, provided that he is or is willing to become Eastern Orthodox.

Line of Maria Vladimirovna

If one accepts that Vladimir Kirillovich’s marriage to Leonida Georgievna Bagration-Moukhranskaya was non-morganatic and that he was succeeded by his daughter Maria Vladimirovna then the line of succession is:

  1. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich (born 1981), who has been styled Grand Duke of Russia since birth, also a Prince of Prussia (a title which he does not generally use)

 

 

George is, as yet, the only descendant of Grand Duchess Maria. If both died without further male heirs, the succession would then follow semi-Salic law and the right to the Imperial Crown will presumably pass either to Andreas, Prince of Leiningen, as the nearest male relation to Maria and her son that is not descended from Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich through morganatic marriage, or to the nearest non-morganatically descended male Eastern Orthodox relative.

Line of Andrew Romanov

The line of succession to Prince Andrew Romanov based on descent from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia is:

  • Emperor Nicholas I (1796–1855)
    • Emperor Alexander II (1818–1881)
      • Emperor Alexander III (1845–1894)
        • Emperor Nicholas II (1868–1918)
      • Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (1847–1909)
        • Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia (1876–1938)
          • Grand Duke Vladimir Kirillovich of Russia (1917–1992)
            • Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia (born 1953)
              • Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia (b. 1981)
      • Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich (1860–1919)
        • Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (1891–1942)
          • Prince Paul Dmitriievich Romanov-Ilyinsky (1928–2004)
            • Prince Dimitri Pavlovich Romanov-Ilyinsky (b. 1954)
            • Prince Michael Pavlovich Romanov-Ilyinsky (b. 1959)
    • Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia (1831–1891)
      • Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia (1864–1931)
        • Prince Roman Petrovich of Russia (1896–1978)
          • Prince Nicholas Romanovich (1922–2014)
          • Prince Dimitri Romanovich (1926–2016)
    • Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich of Russia (1832–1909)
      • Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich of Russia (1866–1933)
        • Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia (1897–1981)
          • Prince Andrew Andreevich (born 1923)
            • (1) Prince Alexis Andreevich (b. 1953)
            • (2) Prince Peter Andreevich (b. 1961)
            • (3) Prince Andrew Andreevich (b. 1963)
        • Prince Rostislav Alexandrovich of Russia (1902–1978)
          • Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich (1938–1999)
            • (4) Prince Rostislav Rostislavovich (b. 1985)
            • (5) Prince Nikita Rostislavovich (b. 1987)
          • Prince Nicholas Rostislavovich (1945–2000)
            • (6) Prince Nicholas Christopher Nikolaievich (b. 1968)
            • (7) Prince Daniel Joseph Nikolaievich (b. 1972)
              • (8) Prince Jackson Daniel Danilovich (b. 2009)

 

 

Other Romanov descendants

  1. Andreas, Prince of Leiningen (born 1955): He is a grandson of Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia (sister of Vladimir and aunt of Maria Vladimirovna), and great-grandson of Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia. His eldest brother is a claimant to the Russian throne since 2013. He is also a second cousin of George Mikhailovich, as his paternal grandmother (Maria) was the eldest sister of George’s maternal grandfather (Vladimir). He is the head of the princely House of Leiningen.
  2. Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Leiningen (born 1982): He is the son of the previous.
  3. Georg Friedrich of Hohenzollern, Prince of Prussia (born 1976): He is grandson of Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (sister of Vladimir and aunt of Maria Vladimirovna), and great-grandson of Kirill Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia. He is also a second cousin of George Mikhailovich, as his paternal grandmother (Kira) was the younger sister of George’s maternal grandfather (Vladimir). Prince Georg Friedrich is the head of the Prussian Royal House and German Imperial House.
  4. Alexander Karađorđević, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia (born 1945): He is a great-grandson of Marie of Romania, daughter of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (Maria Alexandrovna was aunt of Kirill Vladimirovich, the father of Vladimir Kirilllovich and therefore grandfather of Maria Vladimirovna). He is the head of the Yugoslavian/Serbian Royal House.

Dynastic marriage

Vladimir Kirillovich and Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhransky
  • Under the semi-Salic succession promulgated by Emperor Paul I of Russia, when the last male Romanov dynast died, the succession would pass to his closest female relative with valid succession rights. Vladimir Kirilllovich contended that he was the last male Romanov dynast because all other males descended from Emperor Nicholas I of Russia married morganatically, in violation of the Romanov House Law, with the result that their offspring did not possess any inheritance rights to the Russian throne. Accordingly, he declared that his daughter Maria Vladimirovna would succeed as his closest female relative. When he died in 1992, Maria thus claimed to have succeeded as the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia.[19]
  • The main objection raised to this argument is that Maria’s mother, Princess Leonida Bagration-Mukhransky, was not a member of a royal or sovereign house, and that Maria’s parents’ marriage was therefore morganatic. The House of Mukhrani (Bagration-Mukhransky) was originally a cadet branch of the Bagrationi dynasty which ruled the Georgian medieval Kingdom of Kartli and reigned in the Kingdom of Imereti until 1810. After Georgia’s annexation by the Russian Empire, they had been regarded as nobility, rather than royalty, by the Russian court. Genealogically the eldest surviving Bagratid branch, the Mukranskys claimed to represent the deposed royal dynasty during their years of European exile from Georgia. However the patrilineal descendants of the last king of Georgia – the Bagration-Gruzinskys – remained in Georgia throughout the era of the Soviet Empire, and since its fall and the revival of a monarchist movement they actively contest the Mukhranskys’ claim.[20]
  • Maria and her defenders argue that the Bagration-Mukhranskys were indeed royal, and that the marriage was thus between equals.[20] Moreover, the Head of the Imperial House approved the marriage, consistent with Russian law according to which the Tsar determined whether a marriage was dynastically valid.[20] Vladimir, who was de jure Emperor, had decided two years before his own marriage that the Bagrations were of “corresponding rank,” in a letter to Prince Ferdinand of Bavaria, Infante of Spain regarding the marriage of the latter’s daughter, Princess Maria de las Mercedes de Baviera y Borbón, to Prince Irakly Bagration-Mukhransky.[20] This decision differs from that made in 1911 when, according to the Almanach de Gotha, Princess Tatiana Constantinovna of Russia morganatically wed Prince Constantine Alexandrovich Bagration-Mukhransky, a member of the same branch of the House of Bagration into which Princess Leonida would later be born.[21] Juan, Count of Barcelona, then Head of the Royal House of Spain, considered the issue of Princess Maria de las Mercedes’ marriage to be disqualified from the Spanish succession. The only son of this marriage was sponsored at his baptism by the Count of Barcelona but the latter’s refusal to recognize his god-son as a Spanish dynast led to the Bagrations’ alienation from the Spanish Royal Family, according to Guy Stair Sainty. Even Tatiana Konstantinovna’s marriage was legally a morganatic marriage. It was, in fact, the first marriage in the dynasty conducted in compliance with the Emperor’s formal decision not to accept as dynastic the marriages of even the most junior Romanovs — those that bore only the title of prince/princess — with non-royal partners.[20]
  • Maria’s opponents counter that approval by the Head of the Imperial House cannot make a marriage valid if it violates a provision of the Imperial Russian Law, such as the prohibition against marriages with rank disparity. If this marriage between a dynast and a subject noblewoman (a wife who is of high aristocratic birth, such as a princess, but a subject of the Empire and not of a sovereign family of reigning monarchs) is not morganatic, then this undermines the claim that marriages between other dynasts and subject noblewomen are morganatic.[citation needed] For example, if a Russian imperial dynast may equally marry a Princess Bagration-Moukhransky, then other dynasts obviously may, equality preserved, marry such personages as daughter of the Duke of Sasso-Ruffo, Princess Irina Paley who is descended from the self-same Romanov tsars, Princess Natalia Galitzine and Princess Alexandra Galitzine, who are descended from the House of Gediminas, the medieval sovereigns of Lithuania and Belarus with as high an ancestry as that of the Mukhrani Bagrations, distant descendants of medieval sovereigns in Georgia. Some Romanov princes would thus also be dynasts, in which case the male descent would not be totally extinct. This might suggest that sons born of such marriages of dynasts are as much heirs of Russia as Maria Vladimirovna, and in fact have a better dynastic claim, as no female is yet called to succeed. It is argued by Pieter Broek that prince Rostislav Rostislavich and princess Marina Vasilievna, born of two Galitzina princesses, are as dynastically born as Maria Vladimirovna of the Bagrationi mother. Since the extinction of the Korecki family in the 17th century, the Golitsyns/Galitzin have claimed dynastic seniority in the House of Gediminas. The Gediminids were a dynasty of monarchs of Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century, and Emperor Peter I of Russia had permitted the Golitsyns to incorporate the emblem of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into their coat of arms. They are related to the Rurik dynasty of Russia, for the family descends from a Lithuanian prince George, son of Patrikas and grandson of Narimantas, the second son of Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania. He had emigrated to the court of Vasily I and married his sister Anna Dmitriyevna. On these theories, Andrew Andreyevich Romanov (born 1923) may be the present Head of the imperial family.[citation needed] Some claim that there were no disenfranchised male dynasts in the imperial succession, but that very concept is dependent on the question of whether certain marriages were dynastical or not; thus, the concept ‘disenfranchised’ is empty of meaning here.[citation needed]
Kirill Vladimirovich and Princess Victoria Melita of Coburg
  • Kirill Vladimirovich’s 1905 marriage to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was not initially approved by the Emperor. However the marriage was later approved by Emperor Nicholas II in 1907, and Nicholas II accorded Victoria the title and style of “Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia.”[22]
  • Princess Victoria had previously been married to Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse. Supporters of Maria respond that the laws governing the Russian succession do not forbid marriage to divorcées.[2]
  • Kirill and Victoria were first cousins, and the Russian Orthodox Church prohibited first cousins marrying. Maria’s supporters point out that all other potential claimants are descended from the marriage of Tsar Nicholas I with his second cousin, similarly forbidden by Russian Orthodox canon– and if children of a marriage prohibited by reason of consanguinity were ineligible to succeed, Tsars Alexander II, Alexander III, and Nicholas II could not have validly succeeded to the throne. Moreover, the Emperor gave his retroactive approval to Kirill and Victoria’s marriage,[2] and the Emperor of Russia was then the supreme Head of the Russian Orthodox church. Opponents counter that the Emperor could not change church law by his own decision; instead, an act in ecclesiastical synods or councils would have been needed. However, the Orthodox Church does not treat children of uncanonical marriages as illegitimate nor deny their right to inherit.[2]
  • At the time of Kirill and Victoria’s marriage, Victoria was Protestant, not Orthodox. Maria and her supporters counter that this objection, too, is overcome by the Emperor’s approval of the marriage.[2] According to them, under dynastic law, the Emperor designated which of the dynasts had to marry Orthodox women; usually this was required only of persons who were high in the line of succession, which Kirill was not at the time of his marriage. The Orthodox church does not prohibit its members from marrying Protestants. And Victoria later embraced the Orthodox faith, receiving a published accolade from Tsar Nicholas II. At the time of Vladimir Kirilllovich’s birth in 1917, his mother had been Orthodox since 1907.[2]
Vladimir Alexandrovich and Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
  • Kirill Vladimirovich’s father, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, married Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a Lutheran who did not convert to Orthodoxy until she was already widowed. The arguments regarding the objections to this marriage are similar to the arguments regarding the religious objections to Kirill Vladimirovich’s marriage. It is quite clear, however, that Kirill and his brothers were considered throughout the life of the monarchy to be in the line of succession.
Roman Petrovich and Countess Praskovia Sheremeteva
  • If any of Maria Vladimirovna’s ancestors’ marriages were morganatic or otherwise invalid to pass on succession rights, Maria would seem to have no better claim than any other member of the family. While Nicholas Romanovich was not genealogically senior (he descended from a younger son of Nicholas I, and there are living descendants of Nicholas I’s older sons), his supporters assert that all those senior to him had lost their rights.[14] (For instance, Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich’s eldest son was Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and Dmitri’s son by a commoner wife, Audrey Emery, was Paul Romanovsky-Ilyinsky, whose son in turn is Dimitri Romanovsky-Ilyinsky, an American citizen. As a grand duke, Dmitri Pavlovich’s marriage to Emery was morganatic, so their descendants are excluded from the Imperial succession.[2]
  • While Nicholas’s mother was also not a member of a royal family, Nicholas argues that he did not thereby lose his right to the throne, for the laws of the Russian Empire required only grand dukes to marry brides of equal rank. Only the sons and male-line grandsons of tsars held the rank of grand duke. As Nicholas’ father – a great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I – was only a prince, he was not required to marry a royal bride. In this way, Prince Nicholas claims to be in a different position from that of the descendants of Kirill Vladimirovich and Dmitri Pavlovich.[14] From 1922 until 1939 the Almanach de Gotha did not list Nicholas or Dimitri as members of the Imperial House and stated that the marriage was “not in conformity with the laws of the house.”[23] In the 1942 edition when the publication of the Gotha was under the control of the Third Reich, the Almanach de Gotha makes no mention that the marriage of the parents of Prince Nicholas is morganatic or that it does not comply with the house laws: both Nicholas and his brother Dimitri appear for the first time as members of the Imperial House. However, the last edition of the Almanach de Gotha published by Justus Perthes, in 1944, returned to the previous accepted understanding that the marriage of Nicholas’s parents was “not in conformity with the laws of the house.”[24] It has been suggested by scholars that during the Nazi period the editors of the Gotha were influenced by the Queen of Italy, Elena of Montenegro, who was the aunt of Nicholas and Dimitri Romanov.[25]
Other issues
  • Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna and Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaevich did not acknowledge the legitimacy of Kirill Vladimirovich’s claim during the 1920s.
  • Kirill Vladimirovich was one of the first defectors to abandon the Tsar and join, if not lead, the revolution in St. Petersburg, donning a red armband with the Preobrazhnsky guards. Some argue that as a Russian, a soldier, a grand duke, and a Romanov, this was an act of treason, which calls into question the legitimacy of his and his descendants’ claim to the throne. Alternatively, although Kirill is often alleged to have abandoned his post by leading his troops into town to place them at the disposal of the revolutionary Petrograd Soviet which had occupied the Duma’s Tauride Palace, he maintained that he responded to the call of the functioning remnant of the Duma, the Provisional Committee, (which was also holed up at the Tauride while vying for power with the Soviet): it was to this latter body that Kirill and his regiment actually reported for military duty that day.[20]

Claimant support

Maria Vladimirovna has the support of most monarchist groups and followers,[26] most societies of Russian nobles — including the Assembly of the Russian Nobility,[27][26] and recognition of her claim by the head of the Russian Orthodox Church,[26] Kirill I Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia who, in a televised March 2013 interview, stated “Today, none of those persons who are descendants of the Romanoffs are pretenders to the Russian throne. But in the person of Grand Duchess Maria Wladimirovna and her son, Georgii, the succession of the Romanoffs is preserved — no longer to the Russian Imperial throne, but to history itself” (Сегодня никто из лиц, принадлежащих к потомкам Романовых, не претендует на Российский престол. Но в лице Великой княгини Марии Владимировны и ее сына Георгия сохраняется преемственность Романовых — уже не на Российском императорском престоле, а просто в истории).[28] The Russian Orthodox Church Abroad has also recognised Maria Vladimirovna as Head of the Russian Imperial House.[29]

The Romanov Family Association (RFA) has as members most of the morganatic descendants of the dynasty.[26] Its president was acknowledged as the foremost family representative when Nicholas II and his family’s remains were interred in St. Petersburg in July 1998, and at several other government-sponsored memorial occasions. By contrast, Maria Vladimirovna has, at those same events, generally been acknowledged as occupying the foremost position in church-organised solemnities, such as masses for relic veneration.